Polish Briefing: Fate of the new copyright in EU hands. Capacity market act at the Sejm

What goes on in Poland on 17th of July

Fate of the new copyright in EU hands

The reform of copyright rules in the EU is necessary. According to experts it will be difficult to reconcile the interests of creators, the digital sector and consumers because of the money involved. The European Commission proposed to make copyright stricter by introducing, among others, a fee for links and levy on reproduction media. Brussels wants the first regulation to encompass, among others, news portals and social media, which post announcements about articles published in other media. According to the lawmakers new regulations will improve the situation of creators and publishers because, among others, they will guarantee them protection against pirating their work.

Adamczyk: the road fee should not impact fuel prices

The public opinion is in a heated debate about the introduction of the fuel fee. According to estimates calculated by experts, it would increase fuel price by at least PLN 20 groszy (cents). The Minister of Infrastructure and Construction, Andrzej Adamczyk, argued that the fee would not impact fuel prices.

Studies show that fuel prices will not increase after the Act on the Fund for Local Roads enters into force. “Today we can repeat what experts said – because the fuel sales increased by 18%, the price does not have to necessarily go up,” said minister Adamczyk. He added that according to, e.g. the press release by Orlen the increase of the fee “will probably not impact fuel prices at gas stations.”

Capacity market act at the Sejm

The government prepared a bill on the capacity market. It proposes the introduction of a new item on the electricity bill. The project had its first reading at the Sejm’s plenary session. However, it seems certain that the bill will be adopted after the holidays. This is because the government is racing against the European Commission.

Brussels is preparing regulations that will put a ban on subsidizing from taxpayer money power plants, which emit more CO2 than 55 g/kWh. In practice this is a covert ban on subsidizing coal power plants (even the newest coal blocks emit 700 g CO2/kWh). Beata Szydło’s government is completely against this solution, but we do not have enough allies in the EU. An overwhelming majority of states is for renewable energy, or alternatively gas or nuclear energy. Because our chances to reject the ban are decreasing, the government wants to adopt a capacity market act before the EU will adopt the limits for coal in the fall next year.

EU Parliament to decide about the future of Polish chemical industry

The Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee adopted an opinion about fertilizers in the EU. There is a chance that the European markets, so far inaccessible to Polish companies will open up. However, the key issue of strict limits on cadmium in phosphorus fertilizers has remained unsolved.

Poland is one of the biggest producers and exporters of fertilizers in the EU. The EC prepared a draft legislation, which will limit unwanted substances in fertilizing products, including the amount of cadmium. In May the members of the Commission for Environment, despite the objection made by Polish MEPs, already agreed to limit the element’s content to 60 mg per 1 kilogram of phosphorus and then decrease that to 40 and later on 20 mg. The goal of the regulation is to limit soil contamination with cadmium. The problem is that currently 70% of phosphates import to the EU is from Africa. The content of cadmium in those deposits is a lot higher than the proposed limit. Chemical companies point to the fact that the new rules will favor Russian deposits which have a low cadmium presence.